July 31, 1980
by Padfoot the Marauder
Summary: Just look at the title! If that date doesn’t ring a bell, I don’t know what will... and someone needs to smack you over the head with a shovel.
1. Default Chapter

Title: "July 31, 1980" Author: Padfoot the Marauder Disclaimer: *coughs and taps on microphone* "I OWN NOTHING! Thanks for your attention". Author's note: Just a little thing I felt like writing. Since never having went through or having witnessed childbirth, I actually forced myself to see one of those horrid television shows where they film the thing. Not much fun, I can tell you that!  And if I still managed to screw something up about the process, feel free to tell me. 

And I'm aware English people usually work with inches, but since I don't I just went with centimetres. Sorry, but I'm a lazy bum and I hate doing math!

**"JULY 31, 1980"**

**Chapter one:**

****

July 31, 1980, 01.36 o'clock in the morning.  It was a warm summer night and it was quiet in the suburbs of Southern London. Finding it to hot to do anything else everyone was soothingly laying in their beds vast asleep. All except one. A bespectacled 21-year-old young man with black unkempt hair lay awake on his bed, trying to order his tray of thoughts. James' gaze shifted from the ceiling towards the sleeping form of his wife. The shadows, moving by the wind bristling the trees in front of the bedroom window, danced playfully over her curvy body. James couldn't help but smile. She looked so lovely with her round pregnant belly. 

He sighed contently. Everything had gone so fast these last few years. He and Lily got married a year after graduating from Hogwarts. A year and a half after that they were pregnant, and now, nine months later they stood on the brink of becoming a family. James lovingly stroked a stand of his wife's red hair out of her beautiful face. She mumbled something incoherently, slightly turning over in her sleep. He had loved her since he was fourteen, but back then she wouldn't give him the time of day. He really couldn't blame her for that. Looking back on those days he just wants to smack himself over the head for the stupid things he said and did. Good thing his head deflated, otherwise they probably would never have gotten together.  He shivered at that thought and pushed it out of his mind. He put his glasses on the nightstand, snuggled himself close to his wife, gently placing one hand on her belly and drifted off to sleep.

It seemed only minutes after he had dozed off as he felt a nudge in his side waking him up.

        "James?" he heard his wife addressing him "I... I think it's time". 

James turned around, still drowsy from sleep. 

        "Hm? What? Time for what?"

At the same moment these words had escaped his mouth the meaning of what she'd said sank in. He veered up and looked at Lily, his eyes gazing back and forth between her face and her belly.

        "It's time?" he asked her in a panicky high voice "You're sure?"

        "Pretty much, yes" she answered him in a smile as she covered her swollen tummy with her hands. 

James feverishly rolled himself out of bed and stood at the foot end. He just hovered there for a moment, seeming very indecisive on what he had to do first. Get himself dressed? Get his wife dressed? Call their doctor? Call their parents? Call a cab?... He felt like his head was going to explode.

        "I don't know what you're planning to do, James", Lily said amusedly while she sat herself upright, "but while you're enjoying you personal-time I'm going to fetch myself some tea."  

James shook his head in confusion.

        "_Tea_? Lily dear, there is no time for tea! We have to get to the hospital!"

Lily stretched her limbs as she sat on the bedside.

        "Come on!" she yawned "Giving birth usually takes quite a while, and the less time I have to spend in the hospital the better. Taking five minutes to set some tea won't hurt, you know."

James looked at her with indecision on what to say.  His gut told him to get his wife in qualified medical hands as soon as possible. But on the other hand he didn't want to go in against her wishes when she was about to go and deliver their firstborn. 

        "What about this" Lily said. "While I get the tea and call us a taxi, you go get dressed, fetch my clothes and the bag we've packed and meet me in the kitchen. Alright?"  

Her 'proposal' didn't really  change anything about the situation, she just made it sound a bit better. James absentmindedly shook his head in agreement. Lily was making her way out of the room as James quickly walked up to her, softly turned her around by the shoulders and lovingly kissed her. They beamed at each other, not finding the words to describe the emotions they were both feeling. In a very short time in the future they would be holding a baby-boy or baby-girl in their arms which they could call their own. James affectionately kissed her on the forehead and let his wife head towards the kitchen. 

When she had left, James felt the panicky feeling dawning on him again. He opened the bedroom closet, quickly yanked some of his clothes of the racks and put them on.  He got one of Lily's dresses he knew she was comfortable in, and then he went to get the.... Where did he put the....?

        "_Lily!_?" he yelled "Where's the...?"

        "Under the bed!" he got in reply before he even got to finish his sentence. He reached under the bed and grabbed the bag they had packed over a month ago to take to the hospital. He virtually flew downstairs to meet his wife at the kitchen table.  She was relaxingly sitting there with a damping mug between her hands and she grinned as she saw James enter.

        "Calmed a bit?" she asked him playfully. 

        "Yes" he lied. "But can we _please_ go now? I couldn't bare the thought of something going wrong for lingering too long".

        "Nothing will go wrong!" she said reassuringly as she finished her drink, got up and placed it in the sink. "Alright then. Will you help me get my clothes on? I promise that it's the last time I'll ask you that. Things will probably get a lot easier once I'll be able to see my feet again."

        "You make it sound like you're placing a burden on me" James answered mischievously as he helped her pull out her nightgown. 

        "Tease! The only reason you like it because it gives you a nice view of my big fanny!" she answered as she stretched out her arms to pull her green dress over her head.

        "Yes I do", he replied sniggering as he nuzzled her nose with his, "and I sure hope you'll keep your 'big fanny' for a while longer. I've grown quite attached to it."

        "We'll see" she said as she teasingly pinched James' cheek and sat herself back on the chair so James could put her slippers on. "Who knows, perhaps it's permanently lodged there". 

        "I'll keep my fingers crossed" James replied jokingly as he put on Lily's slippers and helped her back to her feet. "Lets go outside and see if the taxi has arrived already" he proposed. She nodded in agreement. James picked up their bag and offered his other arm for Lily to lean on. She grabbed his arm and they headed out the door. It was quite a pain having to take a taxi while there are so much faster and easier ways to travel. Apparating, Broomsticks, Port-key, the Floo,... But none of those are very advisable for pregnant women past their second term.  In the beginning Lily found it quite a pest having to move herself around like that, but she had gotten quite used to it by now. After all, since she was a Muggle-born, there was a time when she never knew of the ways Wizards travel. 

When the taxi had arrived they got in (the driver gave James a congratulating wink) and left for the nearest hospital. During their way over there Lily's contractions started to become slightly more painful. James felt completely helpless at seeing his wife's face wrinkle in discomfort. The only thing he could do was to comfortingly squeeze her hand.  His heart jumped in relief when the car finally pulled up in front of the hospital. James paid the taxi-fare and helped Lily out of the car. The cabdriver wished them both good-luck and drove off again. The sliding doors opened with a soft "DING" when they came into the entrance hall. James sat Lily down in one of the chairs and went to the information desk. He found his voice to be quite shaky when he asked for assistance. The woman behind the desk was quite helpful and immediately got them a room on the third floor and a wheelchair for Lily to sit in. When they got upstairs they were assigned a room and were told a nurse would see them shortly. After he had rolled her in the room, James helped his wife out of the wheelchair and into the bed. Now he had gotten her here he'd expected to feel somewhat relieved at having successfully done his most important task for the night. But he felt that the knot in his stomach didn't loosen for a millimetre. 

        "Are you scared?" he asked Lily as he rearranged the pillows so she could lay her head comfortably. 

        "Not scared, really" she answered thoughtfully after she had considered his question for a moment. "More nervous. You?"

        "Terrified" he said with a chuckle to make his statement sound less aggravating.  Lily sniggered.

        "At least _you_ don't have to push something out of your body the size of an oversized melon." 

        "And I'm truly grateful for that!" James answered jokingly but feeling very earnest about his statement. 

After a few moments a nurse came in to measure how far Lily was coming along.

        "Five centimetres. I think he, or she, is in a hurry" she assessed smilingly.

        "How much longer do you think it'll take?" Lily asked as she removed her legs from the braces (or whatever you call those things that keep your legs up).

        "That depends" the nurse answered as she removed her gloves "but if you keep up this rate it will probably only take a couple of hours". 

Lily beamed at her husband at hearing this pleasant news. She'd heard stories of women being in labour for days on an end. Like poor Alice Longbottom who she and James had last visited two days ago. Alice's contractions had started on Wednesday-morning and went on till she gave birth to little Neville on Saturday-evening. Lily was glad she apparently wasn't going to have to suffer through something like that.

"Meanwhile make yourself comfortable" The nurse said as she made her way out of the room. "I'll be in to check regularly" 

James was slightly anxious about the fact that they had to resort to a Muggle-hospital. The expertise of Wizard-hospitals, like St. Mungo's, restricted itself to Magical maladies. And since childbirth didn't fall under that category, they had to find their refuge elsewhere. James didn't mean to think such discriminating thoughts (Muggles can be very capable in their own way) but he still would feel better having a physician who could resort to magic if necessary. 

Lily rolled herself to her side to change positioning. She sighed with relief as James pressed his knuckled in the lower part of her back, making twisting movements. During almost her whole pregnancy her back had been quite a painful annoyance and she was very glad for James' magical hands.

        "Thank you" she whimpered. Feeling the pressure on her back was a bit painful, but alleviating her of it all the same.

"Alright Lily, I want you to start pushing" 

The nurse wasn't kidding when she said the baby was in a hurry. Little more then an hour after her visit she found it was time for Lily to be moved to the Delivery Room.

Lily complied to the doctor's request and pushed in all her might, her face almost unrecognisably crumpled in pain and concentration.  James felt his hand being crushed by Lily's more fervent grip, but he didn't flinch. The amount of pain she must be in has got to be horrendous, but still she had not uttered a single squeal.  He knew he had married a tough lady. They both had been through physical and emotional hell fighting with the Order, but it still broke his heart seeing Lily like this and not being able to relieve her of the pain.

"I can see a head" the doctor announced. James' heart made a jump.

        "There's a head?" he exasperated as if there was another option. He moved behind the doctor to get a look. 

Lily saw her husband's eyes bulging, his face turning chalk-white and he had a facial expressing like he was going to be sick.

        "_JAMES_!" Lily growled "_that's... not... helping...!"_

James tore is gaze away from the unpleasant sighting and moved back to Lily's side.

"Sorry dear..." he answered somewhat queasy as he grabbed her hand. 

        "_Push! Push! PUSH_!" the doctor dictated. James encouragingly squeezed Lily's hand. His breath had become uneven with tension. 

        "We're almost there" the doctor announced. "Just one final push."

Lily pushed her upper body up a bit and James held her shoulders so she could rest her back against his hands. She inhaled and with all her strength she pushed one last time. After a few seconds of utmost tension Lily heaved a sigh and an unfamiliar squealing sound filled the room. James' hands clasped themselves on Lilly's shoulders. His knuckles turning white from the intensity of his grip.

        "Congratulations" the doctor said smilingly as he held up the source of the squealing. "You've got yourself a healthy baby-boy".

        "It's a boy?" Lily asked in a voice shaky with exhaustion.  

The doctor nodded as the nurse gently placed the baby in Lily's arms. 

        "James!" Lily said, her voice trembling with amazement "We have a son".

James stood by her side being in utter shock, his hands still clasping her shoulders. 

"A son" he mouthed without letting out any noise. Lily grasped James' arm and pulled him down, sitting on the bed beside her. The baby looked wrinkly, was covered with placenta and looked awfully pale with a shade of blue, but to both of his parents he was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen.  

"He has your hair" Lily whimpered smilingly as she gently stroked the boy's head. Feeling her caress, the baby started wriggling around and blinkingly opened his eyes. As the boy's eyelids opened James gasped at the sight of two bright emerald green eyes. Lily's eyes.

"He has your eyes" he said in a mere whisper, clearly overcome with emotion. 

        Without shifting her gaze from her son, Lily turned to James and sobbingly flung her free arm around his neck. James put his hand on hers, seeing his glasses going dampen with the happy tears running down his face. 

        "We have a son" he said, feeling the information finally sinking in. 

Before he knew it the nurse had placed a pair of scissors in his hand to cut the umbilical cord. He just wished his hands weren't shaking so much. He carefully placed the scissor over the bound off section and severed the link between mother and son. 

"What's his name?" the nurse asked them.

        "Harry" Lily beamed.

The nurse smiled approvingly.

"We're going to have to take little Harry here for a couple of minutes" she announced as she leaned in to take over the baby. Lily felt reluctant to give up her son, but knew they had to check if he was alright. She kissed Harry's forehead and placed him in the nurses arms as if he were made out of glass. One last time she ran her fingers through his straggly black hair and said: "Welcome to the world, Harry James Potter. I hope you'll enjoy it."

TBC

A/N: CRAP! I can't believe I just did that! *bangs head against desk repeatedly* And the stupid thing is that I KNEW he was born in 1980 and not 1981. I think I spaced a little there. Thanks kelliethehottie and J.E.A.R.K.Potter for pointing out my stupidity. *hides in shame*

By the way, the next chapter is coming up. I'm just doing some polishing. 


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I LOVE reviews! (even if they point out how ABSOLUTELY BREANLESS I am when it comes to dates. Aaaaarg!!!) 

WrdPntr: Aw, thank you *hands a tissue*

floggin molly(): And beware of more cuteness to come. 

Queen of Zan: Now that's one odd review. Er... I'm not sure how to respond to that. :-) Thanks,... I guess. 

Anaii: Your wish is my command.

Kelliethehottie: Hell! Hell! Hell! I'm sooooooo stupid! *hits herself over the head repeatedly* Shit, shouldn't have done that... now I feel all woozy.

Poicale: I made YOU look pale because of the details? Waw, praise from the master! 

J.E.A.R.K.Potter: Well, good thing I got the day and month correct, right? Now THAT would have been embarrassing.

Eric2: *blushes* Thank you. *starts giggling like a schoolgirl*****

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**Chapter 2:**

In the early morning Remus was the first one to have arrived at the hospital. This wasn't really a surprise because he was probably already awake since the crack of dawn and the first one to have read the message. James' letter was short and badly written, but the essence was clear.

_Moony,_

_Lily  in  labour!   Come.   Hospital. _

_James._

It had been a full moon last night, and that was quite visible on Remus' worn out and tired face. Still, the radiant smile spread across it made him look much better than he did on most post full moon mornings. James was standing beside Lily, who was sitting up on the bed holding a bundle what couldn't possibly be anything else than their newborn son. Remus was sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed feeling extremely happy for his best friends' newfound joy. All of the sudden the Lycanthrope found a familiar scent creeping up his still momentarily enhanced olfactory senses, which was soon accompanied by an equal familiar sound of movement . 

            "Look who decided to drop by" Remus said smilingly and all heads turned towards the new visitor. James smiled brightly as he caught sight of his best friend entering the room. 

            "How _does_ he do that?" Remus thought. Once Sirius had gotten James' message he probably rolled himself out of bed, flung on some clothes and got himself to the hospital. Even without combing his hair, taking a shower or a shave (not like he bothered to do that every day anyway) he somehow _still_ managed to look like a freaking poster boy (much to James' and Remus' frustration).

            "Congratulations mate" Sirius said beamingly as he lifted his hands out of his pockets and gave James a friendly hug. He appraisingly smacked him on the back and turned to Lily.

            "Lily m'dear, my best wishes to you" he said as he gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad" she shrugged. "'No pain no gain', they say. And in this case, the gain is well worth the pain". She tilted the bundle she had in her arms so Sirius could get a proper look at his godson. 

"And this must be Harry" Sirius said as he caught sight of the little boy.

"Wanne hold him?" Lily asked.

Sirius' face turned slightly pale as he looked a second time at the little pink wrinkly bundle Lily was holding. 

            "O no, I couldn't..." he said quickly as he took a little step back and ran his hand through his luxuriant dark hair trying to hide his discomfort. He had never held a baby before and didn't feel like practising with his best friends' infant. He didn't honestly think he was going to drop him or anything, but he still felt like it was to much of a responsibility to bare.

Remus rolled his eyes.

            "Sirius, don't be such a wuss and hold your godson"  he said good-heartedly. 

Sirius swallowed uncomfortably as Lily gently pushed Harry into his arms.

            "See, it's not that hard" James said trustingly. "Just support the head and you'll be fine".

Sirius relaxed a little when Harry seemed to be safe and secure in his arms, but he still didn't dare to move his feet. Even though Harry was still a baby Sirius could clearly see both his parents reflecting in him. James' facial features and hair and Lily's eyes.  

            "Smell his head" Remus said.

Sirius veered his head up and looked at him in astonishment, his eyebrows coming dangerously close to his hairline.

            "_What_?"

            "Smell the top of his head" he repeated, clearly enjoying Sirius' obvious discomfort. Remus felt that, on the rare occasion you saw Sirius uncomfortable or uncertain about something, one had to take advantage and push his buttons.  

Sirius hesitated for a moment but then bended towards the top of Harry's head to smell the typical baby-scent. 

            "And?" Lily asked him smilingly.

Sirius raised his head and tried to identify the mixture of scents, but failed. 

            "What is it?" he asked.

Remus sniggered at his friend's odd question.

            "It's a baby, you twit!"

            "_I know it's a baby_" Sirius retorted feeling slightly affronted. "I meant...".

            "He knows what you meant" James chuckled. "I guess he was right in a way, though. It's baby-smell"

Sirius gave Remus a nasty glare and redirected his attention back to his godson. He bended his head again meaning to take a second whiff when Harry grasped a strand of his hair and yanked it.

"Ouch!" 

The room filled with laughter.

            "Well, Sirius. That's what you get for neglecting to go to the hairdresser for months on an end" Lily grinned. 

Sirius chuckled.      

"I never heard any complaints before" 

            "The honesty of a child can be both a curse and a blessing" James said sardonically. 

Sirius started to feel more comfortable with he little rascal. When Harry had released his grip he carefully raised his hand to stroke the little boy's head, but got couth off guard when a tiny little fist clasped itself around his index finger. 

            "O dear" Remus said as he noticed the god-smacked look on Sirius' face. "I'd take Harry back now if I were you, James. Or I think Padfoot might want to keep him." 

Sirius uttered his trademark bark-like laugh as he handed Harry over to James. 

            "Not likely. I couldn't even keep a goldfish alive"

            "And who's fault is that?" Remus snorted.

            "Don't you start!" Sirius retorted as he sat himself down in a chair next to Remus. "At least I can say for certain that I've never _eaten_ any of my pets".

Remus smirked at Sirius' retort, knowing he didn't mean it in a bad way. 

"Touch

Meanwhile Harry started wriggling around in his father's arms at the same time letting out whimpering noises. 

            "O dear. Lily, I think this is another job for you" James said as he moved towards Lily and placed Harry in her arms. It took a moment for Remus and Sirius to understand what 'job' James was talking about, but when they did they both veered out of their chairs and quickly excused themselves from the room without trying to sound too horror-struck. At this, they failed.

            "You big babies! It's a natural thing" Lily yelled after the two who were almost tripping over themselves to get out of the room.

            "And they call themselves Marauders!?" she said as she finished unbuttoning her nightgown to give her son his feeding. 

            "Sure they do" James said as he sat himself down on the bed next to Lilly. They're marauding the bleeding hell out of here". 

            "James, don't swear!' giving a meaningful glance in Harry's direction.

            "Sorry, dear".


End file.
